FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Nov. 5, 2025
CONTACT
Liane Jollon, Executive Director, liane@westernleaders.org
Jessica Pace, Communications & Program Director, jess@westernleaders.org
New Mexico State, Local Elected Officials Call for Bonding Reform
Leaders across the state support policy reform that ensures oil and gas companies – not the public – pay to clean up wells.
Santa Fe, New Mexico — As the New Mexico Oil Conservation Commission (OCC) considers a rulemaking to modernize the state’s oil and gas bonding program, 25 elected officials across the state are urging the regulatory commission to adopt the proposed updates.
In a letter submitted to the OCC on Nov. 5, 2025, New Mexico leaders expressed support for reforms that will hold the oil and gas industry accountable for plugging and remediating inactive wells, protect public health and taxpayer dollars, and help prevent orphan wells.
Bonding — or financial assurance — requirements determine how much money oil and gas companies must set aside for cleanup after a well stops producing.
“Our communities live with the legacy of thousands of oil and gas wells, many of which sit idle or are already abandoned,” the letter states. “When wells are not properly plugged and restored, they pose real risks to our air, water, and public health. They also leave taxpayers and public funds vulnerable to billions in cleanup costs that should have been covered by the corporations that profited from the land.”
State legislators, county commissioners, and city and town council members from 24 local jurisdictions and legislative districts statewide signed the letter. More than a dozen also provided individual written and verbal public statements to the Commission during public hearings on the proposed rule changes, which began Oct. 20 and are scheduled to end Nov. 7.
According to state data, the total cleanup liability for New Mexico is estimated between $700 million and $1.6 billion. The average cost to plug a well is $163,000, and some cost far more, but corporations can post bonds for just $250,000 for all wells statewide under current rules.
State and local leaders who signed the letter called for rule updates that will require oil and gas companies to post bonds that reflect the true cost of cleanup, make sure wells are managed responsibly and cleaned up in a timely manner, and natural resources are protected from the risks of idle and abandoned wells.
“Elected officials want to safeguard their communities’ air, land, and water; bring quality jobs to New Mexico; and ensure oil and gas companies – not their constituents – pay to properly plug wells,” said Liane Jollon, Executive Director of Western Leaders Network. “Updating financial assurance policy offers a workable, commonsense solution that simultaneously takes the burden of cleanup off taxpayers, protects community health, and provides accountability for polluters.”
A recent statewide poll shows nearly 9 in 10 New Mexicans (89%) across geographic regions and political parties support oil and gas corporations paying the full cost of plugging wells. According to the study, 91% of respondents say corporations should pay for cleanup, and 90% said it’s essential to protect community health and drinking water.
The OCC has not yet scheduled a vote on the proposed rule. If adopted, the state’s bonding program would be among the nation’s strongest and include the following provisions:
Require oil and gas companies to post $150,000 per well for those at highest risk of abandonment
Companies with more than 20% of their portfolio sitting idle will have to post this amount for each of their wells
Tighter requirements on well transfers, obstructing a common practice in which companies offload wells to financially unreliable operators that can’t afford maintenance or cleanup
Stricter rules for inactive, non-producing wells, requiring operators to show that the wells will return to production in the near future and capping wells at 8 years of inactivity
Western Leaders Network harnesses the power of local, tribal, and state elected officials to address the climate crisis, advance conservation initiatives, and protect democracy.